Garrison City valet makes debut

DOVER ­— Valet parking could not have come to the Garrison City on a better night than Friday, when temperatures hit well below freezing.

Vehicles were consistently pulling up to the loading zone in front of the Cocheco Millworks building along Central Avenue on Atlantic Parking Services' first night in Dover. The prime location makes this service convenient for restaurant-goers as it is nestled between the three restaurants involved with the service: Kelley's Row, Cartelli's and Blue Latitude's.

These three establishments have been working for over a year to bring the service to the city. The company is currently running on a three month trial, with each of the restaurants testing it out to make sure it pays for itself before securing it permanently.

“I worked for another valet service before and the (Atlantic Parking Services) definitely outperform my previous employer,” said Matt Prewitt, who was working on opening night.

Brian Kelley of Kelley's Row expects the trial to go smoothly and to help during the cold winter months, especially when his restaurant is busy during the holiday season.

“All of Dover is going to benefit from this because the parking in Dover will increase and from the convenience of parking that this brings,” Brian Slovenski, Director of Operations of Atlantic Parking Services, said.

Customers eating at Kelley's Row, Cartelli's or Blue Latitude's receive complimentary valet service, however, anyone going to another restaurant, store or location in the city can also get their cars parked by the company, but must pay $10. The service begins at 5 p.m. with the last car being park around 9:30 p.m. Slovenski said the service ends at approximately 11 p.m.

Zach Calabrese, a senior at Dover High School, who works for the company, explained how the service works.

“A car comes up, we open the door and greet the customer and tell them the gist of it,” he said. “We give them a ticket and once they are finished inside, they give their ticket to their server or the hostess who then pages us and we go and get the car and bring it back.”

Tickets are placed on each key to keep everything organized, he said. “We also have a key rack that locks the keys securely with a secure code to ensure that none of them get stolen.”

Cars are parked in a rented parking lot where Slovenski said customers will not have to worry about the safety of their vehicle. Even on Friday night, with several city events and a lot of traffic downtown, Slovenski said they have no problem finding a place for everyone's cars.

“You don't really know what to expect on the first night, but everything is going well,” he said. “With the cold weather, people don't have to walk as far. A lot of people are doing double takes, checking us out since we are new here.”

All bundled up on the chilly night, Slovenski, Calabrese and Prewitt, either stood behind the valet parking service podium, ran to greet cars or jumped in vehicles to get them parked in a timely fashion.